To Rekindle Once Was
by Gemm
Summary: Non-Cannon. Ginny and Harry after the Wizard War and how they rekindle what has been lost. Fluffy, emotional and fairly short. One-Shot. Complete.


**GN: Well, this _ONE-SHOT_ was entirely unprecedented, and I'm so incredibly sorry for neglecting Memory once again. That's :counts on fingers: four times in the space of two weeks! However, my mum made me clean my room, believe me when I say it's no easy task, so I spent the last few days shuffling through papers, and I had a folder labeled "Ideas" and this was one of them. So I decided to change it slightly and make it up to par (my own personal standards, not FFn's). This is my first Ginny/Harry story that I'm actually posting. The others...well, let's just say that I am quite willing to delete them into the vacuum of cyberspace. Enjoy! Oh! __**

**_Some things to note:_**_ Harry and Ginny are single; Dumbledore, Moody, Malfoys, Seamus, and Sirius are dead; Remus and Tonks are together with three adopted kids; Percy is back in the family, married to Penny with twins; Bill and Fleur are together with three; George and Alicia married with twins; Fred and Angelina together with four; Ron and Hermione are married; and Neville and Luna are married with four._ **Now, you can enjoy! **

**To Rekindle Once Was **

**Gemm **

Ginny Weasley sighed, pondering the fact that it had been a relatively calm summer thus far. Well, as easy as any summer with almost the entire Weasley family could be. After all, she didn't want to jinx the peace.

Despite all possible outcomes, there remained a slight damp tinge of unhappiness that had woven its clever way through the vast recesses of the Weasley clan. Not a single person knew why it was there; Voldemort had been destroyed, the War was over, people were getting married, falling in love, revealing long-kept secret feelings that had been effectively stashed from the outside world. Wounds had been allowed to be healed that were previously unattended.

Ginny was perhaps the only one fairly certain about the dampness. No family had gone through the Great Wizard War unscathed; the Weasley's being no exception. A tiny, though significant portion of their clan was gone forever, Charlie, his wife Maria and their four-year-old daughter Caroline dead. It was a void that could never be filled again.

Ginny and Harry were no longer a couple; they hadn't been for the last three years. For Ginny, not being able to be around the solitary man whom she loved more than life itself was hell. No matter who she dated, what she did with her life, Ginny's heart remained tied to Harry; as much as she was loathe to admit it, the scant months they were together were composed of as much peace and innocent bliss as was offered before the War. But that was all History.

Walking through the garden which her mother was very adamant of maintaining Ginny spotted the source of her inner turmoil. She gathered from Harry's murderous gaze, slumped posture and lack of swing-age that something was troubling him as well. They were separated enough from the rest of the boisterous family, so Ginny plopped down next to him on the Garden Swing.

"Harry, is there something bothering you?" He turned away from the worried gaze given by Ginny. "Please, tell me what's wrong," she pleaded with him as she took one of his large hands into her own small one.

"Nothing is the matter, Gin," he mumbled, unconsciously tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

Abruptly, she pulled her hand away. His blatant denial pissed her off. Distantly in her mind, she thought about putting a Bat-Bogey Hex on him. "Do not even _dare _to attempt feeding me bullshit like that, Harry. You of all people know damn well it doesn't work."

Apparently, that was all the excuse Harry needed to blow up. "Ginny, **nothing** is wrong with me! Mentally and physically, I am perfectly healthy! Just drop it, will you!" Harry rose, needing to walk around to let off some of his repressed anger, sorrow and guilt.

To his surprise, Ginny began chuckling. "You just don't understand anything, do you?"

Harry had marched halfway down the hill, headed towards the stream when he turned around. He was about to make a smart reply, but it was halted by Ginny, who had of course followed him.

"You don't seem to comprehend the simple fact that people you know and interact with will care about you; no matter how hard you attempt to push them away," unshed tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she paused while angrily banishing them.

"Ginny, I do understand—" he was furiously interrupted.

"No, you don't. You have no idea what it feels like to nearly lose half of your family; losing some of them anyway."

"I lost my parents, Gin."

"It's not nearly the same circumstance. You were a _baby_, Harry," Ginny spoke with a lethal tone; cheeks flushed with unbidden rage and long scarlet locks fiercely billowing in the sharp breeze.

Harry refrained from utilizing his capability of speech, fearing that Ginny would snap and do something irrational . . . . to him.

"You haven't the slightest inclination what it feels like to nearly lose the love of your life; how much we worry. To show your thanks for the care you receive, you lock yourself in your own pity bubble."

Harry was, to say the least, stunned. People really still cared about The-Boy-Who-Lived? He had saved the world from almost complete annihilation, expecting to live out the remainder of his miserable life in a form of peace. Through the confusion, an unbidden thought sparkled in the recesses of his mind and before he really thought more carefully about it's implications, he gave voice to it.

"'We', Gin?"

She froze for a split second, thoughts racing, then began pacing angrily in front of him, muttering to herself and determining how to best answer such a direct question. Unbeknownst to her, Harry found this particular reaction and pacing disturbingly, and in a way not so disturbingly, attractive.

Finally, Ginny Weasley sighed and stared directly into the inquirer's emerald eyes. Those eyes she first fell in love with. "Harry," she said carefully, "I want you to know something, but if you interrupt me, I'll probably lose whatever courage I have left. I understand if, after this moment, you never wish to have any sort of contact with me ever again, though I really don't want you to not. So, here goes."

Harry didn't say anything; mostly because he wanted to know whatever it was that had his unshakable Ginny shaken, but also because he most certainly did not want to sever contact in any way, shape or form; to break the bond between them would crush his heart.

"I have worried so much about you, not even remotely as a friend, either. I prayed every God-given hour that you would be safe, returning home in one piece and preferably alive. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, and I still can't," she was crying freely now, but made no move to halt the tears. "Now, the more that I've thought about . . . _us_, the more I realize that I am hopelessly, unconditionally in love with you. The past three years have been my hell on Earth, because not only could I not be with you, but I had no idea how you were, if you were alive or dead or hurt. I love you, Harry James Potter, with every fiber of my soul, and I am helpless to stop it."

Whatever Harry had been expecting, it certainly was not that. "What?"

Ginny sighed. Sometimes, Harry could be so inescapably, _unbelievably_ thick. "I love you, Harry." As she said this, she refused to meet his gaze again, half-dreading his reaction.

After several extensive and tense moments, Ginny began to walk away, nodding in understanding. At the point she was passing him, Harry gently pulled her hand.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, I love you will all my heart, soul and then some. I never wish to be alone, without you any longer than required, and I'm sorry that I gave you the impression that I no longer cared for you."

Pulling Ginny closer, he wrapped his arms around her torso and neck, while she wrapped them around his waist. They stood like that, remembering how the other one smelled, and eventually made their way back up the hill to the swing.

Ginny sighed contentedly though her heart was racing and her hands trembling. Being distinctly aware of Harry's closeness and just how damn _good _he smelled; like fresh linen out of the dryer and assorted kitchen spices. Unaware of Harry kneeling in front of her, she began crying tears of relief and joy.

Harry, not knowing _why_ Ginny had started crying, was beginning to panic ever-so-slightly. However, being the chivalrous male he was, he remembered how he had comforted Hermione just over six months ago when they were nearly sure and deeply afraid that Ron, Ginny's older brother and Harry's best friend, was going to die.

Whispering soothing words, he got back onto the swing and began rocking slightly, rubbing Ginny's back as she cried into his shirt. "Everything's fine, Gin, it's all going to be okay."

Ginny's first response was to nearly giggle at what Harry was trying to say to her. It was painfully obvious that he had no idea how to comfort extremely emotional women at crossroads in their lives. Actually, now that she thought more about it, his words sounded an awful lot like when he was soothing Hermione some time ago.

"Harry, these aren't tears of sadness or grief," she began explaining, "you can't comfort me like you do for other distressed friends of yours."

Harry smiled sheepishly and returned to his former position, kneeling in front of Ginny whilst removing a small box that had been in his possession for an unbelievably long time.

"Ginny, you are aware that I love you until the ends of the universe, and hearing the news from your lips that you feel the same has taught me to hope, whereas I had never done so before," his hands were shaking as he held the box out to Ginny. "I would do anything for you, and now I---I ask, no---kneel before you as a man who's hopelessly devoted to you. Marry me?"

Just as Ginny was getting her emotions back under control, Harry just had to do something like this to send them running in full gear once more. Taking the small box, it was nothing particularly special, just a small jewelry box that rattled when she shook it, she opened it and saw a small silver band, engraved on the inside with Harry's and her own names.

Ginny could hold back her happiness no longer, so she launched herself into Harry's arms, and they rolled down the hill, the ring kept safely in her grasp.

"I take it that this is a 'yes', then?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ginny kissed him, and it was almost exactly like the first time they kissed. Fireworks went off behind Ginny's eyelids, and the small tiger lodged in Harry's chest gave purrs of happiness.

"Yes, yes, you lovesick fool! Yes!" Ginny yelled, trying to make her point across, if she hadn't done so already. Whispering she added, "Yes, Mr. Harry James Potter, for I love you, and I always will."

**GN: Well, that wasn't so bad, now was it. I admit, Ginny was a little, shall we say, **_**over-emotional**_**. But, that's how I roll. Review, and knock me back into my little Memory world! (Reviews always make an author feel loved)**


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